Husker Game!

Braxton is finally to the age where we felt like he could go to a Husker game and actually enjoy himself.  He saw that a lot of his friends were going and really wanted to go.  Chad was able to find some tickets through his mom to the Kansas University game on 10/13/10. 

The good old Nebraska weather decided to grace us with its presense Friday night.  All day Friday it was cold, dreary, rainy and by 10:30 that night it was snowing.  Go figure, the first snow of the year the night before Braxton's first football game!  Lucky for us, the snow was all gone Saturday morning and the day turned out OK.  We did get him some longjohns to wear under his jeans and a hat and gloves.  He forgot his Husker snuggie, but he was still warm enough.  Of course, it was a 6 o'clock game so it was chilly!

Our friend Rick works at the games and was able to get Chad and Braxton down on the field.  What an awesome experience!  There were football players walking right by them!  Braxton was pretty excited!  It was a quick game and they were home by 9:30 and of course Nebraska won!

The view from their seats!

Halloween 2010

This year for Halloween, Braxton decided to be a cop and Lilly wanted to be a fairy.  Well, to be fair.  She wanted to be a fairy, Tinkerbell, Strawberry Shortcake, a Butterfly, and then a fairy!  I got creative and made both kids costumes!  Woo hoo for me!  I am not a sewer so everything was done with glue!  Thank you Hobby Lobby!

For Lilly's fairy skirt, I made the whole thing out of green and purple tulle.  If I were to do it again, I wouldn't have made it quite so long and probably not as puffy.  She had problems stepping on it!  The top was just a black leotard with jewels glued on and then she had butterfly wings.  She was a beautiful fairy, although she kept telling people she was Tinkerbell.

Braxton decided he wanted to be a cop, but I didn't like any of the store cop costumes.  They were all so plasticy.  I ran to walmart and bought a pair of navy blue dress pants.  At Hobby Lobby I had found 1/2" yellow ribbon so I glued yellow ribbon down the side of each leg.  I had also bought a light blue dress shirt.  I ironed on an American Flag patch and added his badge.  We found him a hat at one of the halloween stores and he was set.  He added most of the accessories himself!

They had a great time trick-or-treating.  We went around for about an hour or so, but it was chilly!  Towards the end, Lilly sat down in someone's grass and declared she was done and wanted to go home, so we did!

Braxton also enjoys handing out candy, so he did that the rest of the night.

Thank you to my favorite Service Persons!

Geneva Madrigal

Petty Officer 2nd Class

United States Navy

Raphael Madrigal

Staff Sergeant

United States Air Force

I don't have a picture of the two of you in uniform, but Thank You for all you do for our country!  I know that you guys sacrifice a lot (moving across the country and the ocean!) and may be deployed at any time to who knows where!  Thank you for doing everything that you guys do to keep our country safe! 

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Since before Halloween, our house has been ready for Christmas!  We had the Christmas music on before Halloween was over!  We love to decorate and get ready for the holiday season! 
One thing that I never really have to worry about is Christmas Cards.  Shutterfly http://www.shutterfly.com/ makes it SO easy to make beautifuly cards.  The only thing I have to provide is the picture.  We always try to take our pictures in the fall when the trees are so pretty!  Then once the holiday season rolls around, we just pick a card, add the picture and we are done!  Shutterfly does the rest!

This year they have some amazing templates.  You can see them all here http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards.  We prefer to do the photo cards, it is simple and looks nice but if you would like to do a more traditional card, Shutterfly can help you out there too!  Check out all these templates http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards.  They have coordinating gift tags http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-gift-tags , address labels http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-address-labels, you name it!  Don't be surprised if you get a card from us that looks like this one http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/merry-memories-chartreuse-christmas-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93496.  I just love it!  So simple yet elegent!

Right now, Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards!  http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery  What an awesome deal!  You get the envelopes, all you need are the addresses!  It doesn't get much easier than this. 

Shutterfly has other amazing services including photo books, gifts, etc.  They take your amazing pictures and make them into amazing things!

*This post was to receive free holiday cards from Shutterfly.

Hawaii Days 8, 9, and 10 ~ The Trip Home

While the following story may seem like we made it up, I promise it is 100% true!  Keep in mind that we were supposed to be home in Scottsbluff Saturday morning at 11:00am.

FRIDAY:
While trying to check in online for our flight, we discovered that our flight out of Honolulu to San Francisco was delayed.  The problem with that was that we would then miss our connection flight to Denver.  After many hours on the phone, we were able to get rebooked on a later flight out of Honolulu with a different connecting flight to Denver, and therefore a different connecting flight to Scottsbluff getting us home at 5:30pm.  (6 hours later than expected)  We get to the airport and try to check in using their self check-in stations.  It comes up with an error.  We call a lady over to help us and she says there is a probem with our flight to Scottsbluff, it has been cancelled, she takes our tickets and goes to fix it.  She is gone about 45 minutes, comes back and tells us that another lady will be taking over trying to find us different flights.  After another 30 minutes or so, the other lady has us all checked in, on the exact same flights we had when we got to the airport.  Lucky for us, they didn't charge us for our baggage!  Because of the flight changes, we lost our good seats and ended up on really crappy ones for the longest leg of our trip.  At this point, we didn't care.  We were just excited to be headed home.  We board the flight and get ready to go home.

SATURDAY:
Around 6 am we land in San Francisco.  I am exhausted so I laid down on the seats to take a little nap.  Chad gets up to find something drink.  After he was gone a while, I got nervous and tried to call him.  He didn't have his phone with him.  I get up to see what gate our flight to Denver is out and find out it is cancelled.  Are you kidding me?  Cancelled???  I wander around and finally find Chad in the Customer Service line trying to get a new flight.  At this point, there is NOTHING they can do to get us home today.  The best they can do is get us to LA later that evening, then to Denver around midnight, and to Scottsbluff that next afternoon.  To say the least, I was not happy!  After many phone calls home to my parents and my dad looking online for different flights, we find out that we are pretty much out of luck.  So here we are in Scottsbluff until at least 5:30 that night.  Lucky for us, my best friend from high school, Stacey lives in San Francisco.  Again lucky for us, she was available that day and came and got us.  She drove us around, we went to In and Out for lunch and then to the Golden Gate Park.  Chad had never been to San Fran before so he was able to see the bridge and Alcatraz.  Thank you so much Stacey!!!  We stopped at a nice coffee shop before we headed back to the airport around 3 or so.  After she dropped us at the airport and we headed to check in.  We went to find out gate and found out that THIS flight was also delayed and we would miss our connection from LA to Denver.  Once again, we headed to the customer service line.  This time, we had a good guy trying to help us.  He tried to get us flights directly into Alliance, but couldn't.  Finally, he was able to get us on a flight to LA with a short layover before a midnight flight into Denver.  The airline would put us in a hotel and give us food vouchers.  It was the best we could get so we took it.  We hightailed it to our flight to LA. 
We got to LA and found our flight to Denver, this one amazingly enough was not cancelled or delayed!  The gate we were at had a flight coming in from Honolulu.  All I could think was that we could have waited, spent the night with Gwen, and came in on this flight.  Oh well.  We got some dinner in LA and then headed out to denver. 

SUNDAY EARLY MORNING:
Around midnight, we made into Denver.  In LA we were told to go to customer service and they would get us into a hotel  There was nobody in the airport.  We helped a poor single mom with a very tired toddler get her luggage down to her sister, then headed off to find out where we could stay tonight.  Down in baggage claim, we found the guy to hook us up!  He was able to get us a hotel, the DoubleTree, and $30 in food vouchers for the airport.  Then he told us that the shuttle would be back around 1:45.  At this time it was 12:50.  I did NOT want to wait another 55 minutes to get to a hotel.  The guy at the desk called to double check the where the shuttle was and it was right outside.  We ran and caught it.  Whew!  It was about a 20 minute ride to the hotel, but I did not care!  We made it to the hotel and were checking in and realized that we had nothing.  I asked the girl if she had a toothbrush and toothpaste, she did.  Then I asked if she had deodorant, she did.  Finally, she gave us both warm chocolate chip cookies because we looked like we needed it.  Keep in mind that we had not showered since Friday morning and it was not very early Sunday morning. 

SUNDAY LATE MORNING:
After a few hours sleep, we caught the shuttle back to the airport.  We headed to the Great Lakes desk to get checked in and get to Scottsbluff.  We get to the desk and it is a short line.  We try to check in and there is no record of our tickets.  Are you KIDDING ME?  The lady was so super nice too...or not.  She claimed she couldn't do anything and we needed to call United.  So once again, we got on the phone.  They gave us some information to give the lady at the desk.  We got back in line and tried again.  This time, she could see my ticket but not Chad's.  Then she could finally see Chad's, but couldn't release it or something.  This time, we headed over to the United desk to see if they could help.  The lady pulled up exactly what we needed and had no problem finding it.  She called over to the other desk (not sure why the other lady couldn't call, these desks were not exactly close to each other!) and gave her the information.  When she hung up the phone she mentioned what an unpleasant person she was to work with...we agreed!  We headed back to the Great Lakes desk and were able to get checked in.  Now for the matter of the food vouchers.  Pizza Hut and KFC it was.  We ordered so much food, way more than we could eat but we were determined to use every cent the airline gave us.  I think we used all but 13 cents or something, but we did end up throwing away a lot of food.
Finally, we headed down to our gate.  The lady at the gate told us we were at gate 60 and boarding at 3:15.  As we were sitting at the gate, Chad got up to look at the board to see when we were boarding.  The board said, SCOTTSBLUFF....CANCELLED.  Once again, are you KIDDING ME?  Then he noticed it was for a 6:15 flight, and our gate was actually 68.  Thanks a lot desk lady.  Chad had me go look at the gate without telling me what was going on, just to give me a little bit of a heart attack. It did!
We headed to gate 68, and other than a slight delay to fuel the plane, we headed out (walking on the tarmac by the way!) to board our tiny plane.  Finally, we were in the air and on our way.  I have never been more excited to see the state of Nebraska again.  AT LAST we landed and the kids were so excited to see us, but probably not as excited as we were to see them. 

MONDAY:
We headed home (driving....6 hours to Lincoln) finally.  I could not wait to get back to my bed and my house. 

Supposed to be home:  Saturday at 11am, actually home, Sunday at 4:30pm.  A difference of 29.5 hours.  AUGH!

We had a great time, but it will probably be a long time before I fly United again!

Hawaii 2010 Day 8 ~ North Shore, Surfing, and a Change of Plans

Friday morning was our last day in Hawaii.  We were ready to get home, but yet still sad to leave.  Before we left we had promised the kids that we would wave to them from the Duke Statue down from our hotel.  So even though it was raining, we headed over to the statue and called the kids.  They could see us waving and some lovely stranger offered to take our picture!  After we checked out of the hotel, we headed to Gwen's house.  The plan was for the boys to go surfing at White Plains and Gwen and I to head to North Shore to visit the Chocolate Gecko, then head to White Plains and catch up with the guys.  Plans changed a little bit and after getting some yummy chocolate, Gwen and I headed to Pizza Bob's for lunch.  It was tasty!  I think the guys headed to the mall and had lunch there.  On our way up, I wanted to go by Waimea to take pictures.  This beach is known for its waves and surf contests.  Today, it was absolutely still.  Almost like glass.  It was beautiful!

A church in Waimea.

While we were touring North Shore, Chad was learning how to surf.  He now understands why they call them "rash guards" and he had the rash to prove it!  From what I hear, he was able to make it as far up as his knees!

After a while we made it back to Gwen's and I went to check in for our flight home.  That is where the fun began.  I found out our flight was delayed causing all sorts of problems for our connecting flights. 

While we were trying to figure out flights, Gwen and I headed out to get some dinner.  Nothing too exciting since Chad and I were getting ready to fly!

Waimea

Stay tuned for the unbelievable trip home!

Hawaii 2010 Day 7 ~ The Wedding and the Luau

One of the special things that our hotel offered was a Wedding Vows Renewal Ceremony on the beach.  Unfortunately, we were too late in signing up and they were already full!  To say I was bummed would be an understatement!  Luckily for us, Gwen and Ralf had been married by a guy who was able to perform our ceremony on Ko Olina!  I was so excited! 
Thursday morning we woke up and decided that we needed to find something special to wear to the wedding, so we headed to Hilo Hatties.  They have everything!  I was able to find a beautiful dress but Chad wasn't able to find a shirt so we headed to....TARGET!  Target has everything.  He was able to find a shirt that looked awesome!  We met Ralf and Gwen at the NEX so we could head up together.  We stopped and ate at Blazing Steaks and I really enjoyed it!  I was afraid it would be spicy, but it was really just chopped steak with rice (of course!).  It was tasty!  Then we headed up to Ko Olina and parked.  We were supposed to meet the guy at the same hotel we had stayed at just a few nights before!
Once he got there, we headed to the "public" lagoon of Ko Olina.  It was just beautiful.  A lot more rugged than the other 4 lagoons.  Lots of rocks and waves!
We had a beautiful ceremony standing in the ocean (and slowly sinking into the sand!).  It was beautiful and such a wonderful way to renew our love for each other.  Ralf and Gwen were our witnesses and it was amazing!  While we were taking pictures, we saw two sea turtles in the lagoon.  It was awesome!  I can't believe how many turtles we saw this trip!

The Wedding Ceremony!

The "public" lagoon.  It is gorgeous!

Doesn't it look like we were photoshopped into this picture?

Gwen and Ralf...so cute!

Since we were already at Ko Olina (where the Luau was) and had some time to spare, the guys went snorkling and swimming in one of the lagoons. It was so wonderful!

When it was time, we headed to Paradise Cove Luau. You can't go to Hawaii without going to a Luau. My wonderful sister upgraded our tickets and we had a great time! I can tell you that the Tropical Itch drink is mighty tasty. I might have had a few too many, but I will never admit it!
The luau was great.  They are such amazing performers and it really is quite an intersting story.  The Hawaiians really treasure their history!

The beginning Ceremony of the Luau where they bring out the pig!

Gwen and I with the dancers.  Yes, I had had a few Tropical Itches by then. 

The next day was going to be our last and we had great plans, unfortunately they didn't turn out the way we had hoped.